Places in Time

The
ALICO Building: A Long, Tall Texan

When Artemas Roberts founded the
Amicable life Insurance Co. in 1910,
he wanted a building that would stand
the test of time. He got more
than he bargained for.

There it stands at Fifth and Austin,
the reference point for Waco, austere
yet bold. It was Texas' first skyscraper
and the state's tallest building
for a time. It reigned over
Waco's business district when the
downtown was the core of civic fusion. There
it stood stoically, with but a few
shattered windows, after a tornado
gouged out the heart of the downtown
district.

When the building was completed
in 1911, it was hailed as the symbol
of Waco's future, just as the Suspension
Bridge over the Brazos was a symbol
of its past. Though in its 75th year,
the ALICO building remains a symbol
of the future in many ways.

Why did Waco get Texas' first skyscraper?
Because Roberts projected Waco as
a commercial giant. Maybe he
wanted his skyscraper to be the first
on the block.

"I think Roberts saw Waco was a
very progressive community, successful
in the cotton industry, with a lot
of influential people he could attract
as investors and policyholders," said
Thomas Westbrook Jr., senior vice
president of American-Amicable Life
Insurance.

Having been chosen as the site of
Texas' first skyscraper thrilled
the city, as if it had been anointed
with a new destiny, and the building
became Waco's focal point.

At first it was to have had 20 floors,
but when Roberts found out the Adolphus
Hotel in Dallas also would have 20
floors, he upped it by one. The
builder of the Adolphus also decided
to go up to 21, and so Roberts added
a 22nd floor, making the
ALICO building the tallest one south
of the Mason-Dixon Line for a few
years.

However, the two most important
stories in the building were not
those on its top but those at its
bottom. Contractors Sanguinet & Staats
sought to construct as indestructible
building, and did so by digging 40
feet into the ground, down to solid
rock, to begin laying the foundation. Then
with the use of massive steel H-beams
the building sprang up, boldly proclaimed
as sturdy enough to sustain a "hurricane
load."

Then on May 11, 1953, a bully came
knocking on ALICO's door.

At 4:36 p.m. a tornado made a direct
hit on downtown Waco, so intense
and massive no one downtown could
detect its shape as it crashed into
the city. Arriving from the
south, it seemed to head right for
the ALICO building and then veer
west, as if body-checked by the tall
and mighty structure.

As it struck, the building swayed
and employees at the top floors were
thrown against the walls. Westbrook
was there. He remembers one
employee had a hand braced against
a wall and felt a crack open up between
his fingers.

The damage to the building was largely
superficial, however, whereas other
buildings collapsed for almost a
mile over a two-block stretch, including
the five-story R. T. Dennis building
across Austin Avenue from ALICO.

"It was almost like the tornado
had hit our building, bounced off
and went another direction," said
Westbrook.

In the wake of the tornado, which
claimed 114 lives while destroying
150 homes and 196 businesses, the
ALICO tower became Waco's crisis
center. Having been built with
its own generator, it was the only
structure in downtown with electricity. From
the First National Bank on the ground
floor, medical and military officials
coordinated search parties and rescue
efforts. They spent the next
48 hours there working around the
clock.

Like the building itself, the 1953
tornado has become a reference point
for downtown Waco, which in many
ways is still shaking off the storm's
lingering effects as it seeks to
restore its vitality.

In 1982 the ALICO tower won its
badge of honor when the Texas State
Historical Commission designated
it a historical landmark.

Meanwhile, changes took place in
the company founded long ago by Aretemas
Roberts. Amicable Life merged
with American Life Insurance of Dallas
in 1965 and the company became known
as American-Amicable. Gulf
Life Holding Co. of Florida purchased
American-Amicable in 1968. American
General Corp bought the company in
January of last year.

The American General operations
are to be consolidated in Houston
in the next three years. American-Amicable
will retain a presence in Waco, but
much of the office space now used
almost completely by the insurance
company, will be leased out. When
that time comes, one would think
American General will have little
trouble finding tenants. The building
remains impressive and function as
ever. And -- what a view.

Westbrook, who has worked for Amicable
since 1947, said its founder built
the tower "as a symbol of strength
and stability."